Funds support comprehensive and ongoing renovations aimed at reducing wait times, increasing patients’ comfort and privacy, enhancing staff communications, and improving the standard of care

FLORENCE—Florence Bank has pledged $75,000 to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s $26 million Transforming Emergency Care Campaign to renovate, expand and enhance the Emergency Department (ED) and improve the standard of care.

Diane Dukette, Chief Development Officer at the hospital, said the ED is 40 percent undersized to meet the community’s needs, given that the number of patients and the severity of their illnesses has steadily increased over the years, more than doubling since the 1970s. The hospital is also treating more patients with behavioral health concerns.

Cooley Dickinson broke ground on the extensive project to transform the ED in 2023. Project goals include reducing wait times, increasing patients’ comfort and privacy, enhancing staff communications, and improving the standard of care.

The undertaking is one of the largest capital investments in the hospital’s history, and this is the final year of the campaign.

Florence Bank President and CEO Matt Garrity said, “Cooley Dickinson plays a vital role in the health and well-being of the communities we both serve. We’re proud to support this transformational project and the benefits it will provide to people and families in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.” 

Dukette said Florence Bank is a loyal supporter of Cooley Dickinson, and over the years, has donated to many campaigns, most recently the new Childbirth Center, North Building and Cancer Center, and has supported many programmatic needs, such as nursing development.

“In the last four decades, Florence Bank has given over a million dollars to Cooley Dickinson,” Dukette said. “Florence Bank has been a longstanding community partner, investing in the fabric of our society and recognizing the unique role we play in the community and for their customers. We are so grateful we can count on Florence Bank to get behind initiatives that are critical to the community.”

Construction in the ED is ongoing with a new addition in the works, and pods being constructed and renovated in phases. 

Dukette said ED staff have adeptly worked around the construction, reassessing and realigning workflows as necessary.  

“They are so skilled at doing whatever needs to happen to take care of patients in the moment,” Dukette said, noting project completion is expected in roughly a year. “Our ED is open, and our wonderful providers are there to do everything they can to take care of our community.” 

The Transforming Emergency Care campaign has raised $11.5 million of the $26 million project. To make a gift, call 413-582-2255 or visit cooleydickinson.org/giving.

To learn more about Florence Bank, visit FlorenceBank.com.

About Florence Bank

Florence Bank is a mutual savings bank chartered in 1873. Currently, the bank serves the Pioneer Valley through 12 full-service branch locations in Florence, Northampton, Easthampton, Williamsburg, Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown, Granby, Chicopee, West Springfield, and Springfield. Additionally, it offers 25 ATMs and a wide range of financial services, including investment management through Florence Financial Group to consumers and businesses. Florence Bank is consistently voted best local bank by the readers of the Valley Advocate and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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Longtime partnership deepens as Florence Bank leader joins the nonprofit’s board of directors

FLORENCE—Florence Bank recently renewed a $30,000 pledge to Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, and in another celebration in the longtime partnership between the two organizations, a leader at the bank has joined the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Jim Hickey, vice president / director of marketing operations at the bank and a resident of South Deerfield, began a three-year term on the 15-member board last night. 

“Florence is a very community-spirited bank, and we are a very community-spirited organization. Our missions align,” said Amy Landry, the director of resource development at Habitat for eight years. “Clearly, they have been a wonderful community partner for us.”

The gift and new board participation are signs that the decades-long relationship between Florence Bank and the local Habitat organization continues to deepen. The range of involvement is wide.

For instance, Florence Bank recently agreed to serve as the applicant partner with Pioneer Valley Habitat to secure a $96,000 grant from Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston provided to entities offering low-income and affordable housing; the funds would offer $32,000 per build on three current projects. 

Bank staff also volunteer on construction sites around the county, doing everything from swinging hammers to painting and landscaping; this year, the bank sent teams that helped complete two homes in Pelham. 

Florence Bank has been a sponsor for Pioneer Valley Habitat events, and the nonprofit last year was a first-time recipient of a Customers’ Choice Community Grant. The nonprofit even holds accounts with Florence Bank.

“The bank has been a partner in so many dimensions,” Landry said. “Florence has checked all the boxes from sponsoring to contributing financially to volunteering. That makes the bank a special friend to us.”

The relationship between the two organizations began almost two decades ago, when the bank began donating to Pioneer Valley Habitat. The bank has increased its support over time and has pledged $10,000 per year since 2015 to support local projects. 

“They see the importance of giving at a certain level to have an impact,” Landry said, noting that the bank’s multi-year pledges offer reliable leadership revenue to the organization.

Some years, bank funds support construction costs on that year’s home builds; one year, the gift covered costs associated with volunteer appreciation and retention efforts, and another, the pledge was used as a matching challenge that boosted fundraising efforts.

Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit with a mission to build affordable housing for families who may not qualify for traditional bank mortgages. Pioneer Valley Habitat operates with four staff members, and Landry said the organization is largely volunteer-driven. 

In past years, the organization built two houses per year, and this year for the first time, it will build four—three in Northampton that Florence Bank is sponsoring and one in Conway. 

As the cost of construction rises in the region and beyond, Landry said the gulf between those who can afford to buy a home and those who can’t is growing, making Habitat’s work even more critical.

“To the extent that we can support people who are ready to be owners of affordable homes, Florence Bank is a partner with us in that. That’s a big influence,” Landry said. “They’re helping us one family at a time—three families this year.”

She noted that homeowners who move into Pioneer Valley Habitat housing become tax-paying residents who build roots and have an impact themselves. “Transformation happens across the Habitat community. It’s about neighbors helping neighbors, and it’s nice when you can think of a bank as a neighbor.”

About Florence Bank

Florence Bank is a mutual savings bank chartered in 1873. Currently, the bank serves the Pioneer Valley through 12 full-service branch locations in Florence, Northampton, Easthampton, Williamsburg, Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown, Granby, Chicopee, West Springfield, and Springfield. Additionally, it offers 25 ATMs and a wide range of financial services, including investment management through FSB Financial Group (FSBFG) to consumers and businesses. Florence Bank is consistently voted best local bank by the readers of the Valley Advocate.

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